Report: Tito Ortiz Will Face Matt Hamill at UFC 121, Not Forrest Griffin

ByIan Shutts

Contradicting earlier reports that had Tito Ortiz facing Forrest Griffin in a meaningless rubber match, MMAFighting.com has confirmed that Ortiz will instead face off against Matt Hamill at UFC 121 (October 23rd; Anaheim, CA). The Huntington Beach Blah Blah hasn’t competed since his split decision loss to Griffin at UFC 106, and hasn’t won a fight since his third TKO victory over Ken Shamrock in October 2006. Hamill is coming off his majority decision over Keith Jardine at the TUF 11 Finale, which got the Dean of Mean bounced out of the UFC. Technically, Hamill has won his last four fights, including the Jon Jones DQ. If you’ll recall, Hamill was a member of Team Punishment on TUF 3, so this fight will have extra significance when Hamill beats Tito’s ass. In other UFC 121 booking news…

– According to sportsnet.ca, TUF 10 finalist Brendan Schaub will meet Gabriel Gonzaga in a heavyweight contest. Schaub is coming off consecutive first-round TKOs of Chase Gormley and Chris Tuchscherer, while Gabriel Gonzaga was most recently KO’d by Junior Dos Santos in March.

– Patrick Cote and Tom Lawlor are penciled in for a middleweight contest in which the loser may have to find somewhere else to fight. Allow us to pat ourselves on the back; that’s the second match from Armchair Matchmaker: UFC 113 Edition that has actually come together. (Belcher vs. Maia was the first.) You’re welcome, Joe Silva.

– Todd Duffee, who was violently de-hyped by Mike Russow at UFC 114, will reportedly be facing Jon Madsen, who is officially 3-0 in the UFC following somewhat dull decision victories over Justin Wren, Mostapha Al-turk, and Karlos Vemola.

The tentative lineup of UFC 121 is…

MAIN CARD

  • Brock Lesnar vs. Cain Velasquez
  • Tito Ortiz vs. Matt Hamill
  • Brendan Schaub vs. Gabriel Gonzaga
  • Jake Shields vs. Martin Kampmann
  • Court McGee vs. Ryan Jensen

PRELIMINARY CARD

  • Diego Sanchez vs. Paulo Thiago
  • Patrick Côté vs. Tom Lawlor
  • Paul Taylor vs. Sam Stout
  • Todd Duffee vs. Jon Madsen
  • Chris Camozzi vs. Dongi Yang